


Let's Give Them Something to Talk About

by SifaShep



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, Pre-Relationship, Sith Inquisitor Storyline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 12:34:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7715125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SifaShep/pseuds/SifaShep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crizri’s crew wonders why Andronikos sticks around, and why Lord Crizri allows him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Give Them Something to Talk About

**Author's Note:**

> Here is a little drabble about Criz and Andronikos as they dance around each other before they got together.
> 
> This isn’t a songfic per se, but I did have Bonnie Raitt’s song playing in my head as a wrote this.

Crizri wasn’t sure when she’d crossed that invisible line between friendship and “something else.”

When she had met him on Tatooine, his intensity immediately attracted her. He wanted revenge on his former first mate; she wanted that artifact. Their goals coincided, so they decided to throw their lot in together. Khem wasn’t all that thrilled with their partnership.

“What, are you jealous, my morose monster?”

Khem gave her a sour expression (which, frankly, wasn’t too different from his usual). “He is not good for you, Little Sith. He is dangerous and volatile.”

“And you aren’t? I can take care of myself, Khem.”

He returned the ship with a scowl and a growl, and a pointed glare at Andronikos Revel. At the time, Criz simply dismissed his grumbling as petty jealousy. After Andronikos joined the crew, Khem’s attitude towards him grew more stony. Of course, the Deshade never criticized Andronikos directly.

“He shot down 4 Jedi, Master. I took down 8. Double his kill count.”

She only looked at him. “And I let you eat all 12. So what’s the problem?”

Then, “He gazes at you when you are not looking, Little Sith. I do not like what I see.”

Criz only shrugged. “He can look all he wants. I don’t care. It’s not like I’m inviting him, Khem.”

That mollifed Khem for just a little while. Later, “Why do you allow him to leave so often, and so freely? He may not return one day.”

Criz shrugged again. “If he finds some place better, then that’s his prerogative. I know how it feels to be chained too, Khem. He needs his freedom. I understand that. Plus, I trust him.”

Despite herself, that question bothered her. What if he never comes back? She understood Andronikos all too well, which was why they got along splendidly. They shared so much in common, despite the fact he wasn’t Force-sensitive, and a Republic deserter to boot.

 _I trust him_. Criz didn’t place her trust in too many people. Khem, of course. Then Ashara and later Talos and Xalek. She knew the sting of betrayal. If any of her people ever disappointed her, they knew the consequences. Yet they all stayed. All of them.

Even a free spirit like Andronikos. He came back every time. Granted, he didn’t always return in the greatest of moods, but he came back.

She knew her crew speculated about her behind her back. _Does she really like that pirate? Why does she keep him around, anyway? Well, she’s good for our Master, so I cannot complain. The Little Sith knows what she is doing._

She told herself not to listen to the gossip, especially when Ashara and Talos began their habit of late-night theory-spinning. Yet she couldn’t help but notice Andronikos’s glances in her direction, the gentle touch as he helped her in the aftermath of battle, the dark humor that lifted her soul.

Perhaps there was something after all. It took Crizri a long time to realize just what was the attraction.

His passion. When he gave his loyalty, it was absolute. When he joined a cause, it was wholeheartedly. When he…

…fell in love, it was quietly. Yes, he had a whole string of female friends, especially on Tatooine. She never begrudged him that. After all, she, too had men of all species drooling at her feet, both as a slave and as a Sith.

But Andronikos was a private man, under all that bluster, and like an expert pazaak player, he kept his cards close to his chest, until it was time to reveal them.

Crizri knew better than to push him. That was the best method in pushing him away.

So she waited until he was ready, let the tension smolder between them as long as possible. Let her crew wonder and speculate until all hours of the night. Let them talk.

What was unsaid was louder than any words she could ever say.


End file.
